


Mornings after (we are alive)

by lei___aj



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Arc Reactor, Gen, I'm writing this because AOU gave me all the Jarvis feels, It's post first Avengers movie, Jarvis is a sassy bastard, Natasha and Tony are besties, Pepper is mentioned, Steve is Confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 19:32:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3822163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lei___aj/pseuds/lei___aj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the morning, they find everything awkward and wrong. Stark's kitchen is almost not damaged, so they gather there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mornings after (we are alive)

**Author's Note:**

> Set right post first Avengers movie

In the morning, they find everything awkward and wrong.  
  
Stark's kitchen is almost not damaged, so they gather there. Steve looks around and begins to feel at loss: they took Stark's clothes without actually asking him about it, they are sitting around his table and eating his food, and nobody cared enough to ask any permission previously that day.   
  
He just invited them to spend the rest of the day away from Fury and SHIELD and then disappeared somewhere after saying something about "looking at the arc reactor analysis".  
  
Which Steve just finds strange because the reactor is working properly, right? It powers the tower, so it just has to. He mouthed this to the team but Natasha shrugged and said, "Another one," which made Clint and Bruce raise their brows in surprise.  
  
"I guess we should leave him to that, then," Banner nodded and the archer hummed in agreement.  
  
Captain observes his teammates and finds them relaxed. Their hair are still dump from the shower and Stark's t-shirts and sweatpants fit them perfectly - even Steve and Thor managed to find the ones that are big enough for them.  
  
Natasha has cooked supper? Dinner? It is really hard to tell now, when all the fights they had blurred together and it's hard to tell them apart. No one wants to, really. Steve doesn't find the strength to care.  
  
What he finds disturbing is the fact that their meal is prepared by an assassin trained to kill with a pinky if the need comes. Apparently, Clint doesn't care, but it does nothing to cut the sudden tension when it becomes clear that no one is going to touch the food.  
  
Stark choses this moment to walk in the room.   
  
Steve has to admit that it's really hard not to look at him - which means that everyone freezes at the spot like a deer caught in the lights. And they are, indeed, caught red-handed.  
  
Stark is wearing a wife-beater (which has no right to look so in place on him), jeans and he's barefoot. Steve expects him to tell something rude, to be angry at them.  
  
"Coffee," is what comes out of his mouth instead.  
  
Natasha slides a filled mug saying "for science" in big capital letters across the table. Stark looks at it with a strange expression.  
  
"Is it poisoned?" he wonders.  
  
"As per usual," she assures him.  
  
Stark drinks it in a few greedy gulps.  
  
"You know, I think you're my favorite ninja-spy-assassin for the time being," he tells her.  
  
"Good morning or good night?" she inquires sliding a plate towards him after the genius took the only remaining place at the table.  
  
"Something in between," he says around his bites of food. "And just for the record, there's no such thing as good morning. Anyone who states otherwise is not to be trusted, like, ever."  
  
"It's a good thing I never liked Maria Hill, then," she nods, and Stark actually snorts at that, a deep sound in the back of his throat.  
  
"How's the arc?" she begins to sip her tea but her eyes are on Stark.  
  
"Operating at 45% capacity, which means two or around days of being awesome. J is running the tests, but we haven't found any malfunctions so far," he smiles but it looks tired and wrong at the edges.  
  
"So, no need to stab you again?" Natasha asks, and, God forbid, she looks so hopeful.  
  
"No, one time was enough," he snorts again and then just stares at her for a long time. She stares back. Steve can see something close to understanding dawning on him.  
  
She raises one perfect eyebrow instead of asking questions.  
  
"I'll need your help later this evening but you can take the remaining day off," he suddenly announces.  
  
"Thank you, Mr Stark," she replies and the corners of her mouth curl up.  
  
"You're welcome, Ms Rushman," Stark nods at them all and makes a beeline for the door when Hawkeye leaps forward.  
  
"Wait-wait-wait!!" he pleads. "I need a cover, too! I can be, like, anything! The head of your security or something!"  
  
Stark turns to face him and looks thoughtful.  
  
"Happy will make you unhappy with his side glances. Dude's super sensitive. It took weeks for him to recover from Natashalie kicking ass at Hummer Industries," he replies with a fond smile. Natasha just continues to polish her nails.  
  
Barton lookes like he is about to cry.  
  
"Fine. Fine! You can be... um... Natashalie's PA? And, please, don't kill each other and my actual employees? And don't spend all your time surfing the Net, okay? I get that my Wi-Fi is awesome, but still. You fuck up, you'll deal with Pepper. And, believe me when I tell you this, you don't want her to be mad. Or to cry. Seriously, I still haven't figured out what's worse," Stark says and finally leaves.  
  
"I'll be your employee of the month!" the archer yells and gets "In your dreams, Legolas" yelled back.  
  
No one says anything.  
  
"What just happened?" Steve finally breaks the silence.  
  
"No, you see, Stark's a real genius," Barton tells him smugly. "He looked at Tasha and understood that her cover was blown. He just offered her his PA's position and appointed me as hers one."  
  
"But why? He barely knows you two!" Steve exclaims.  
  
"We have a history," Romanoff says.  
  
"A history."  
  
"I worked as his PA undercover and stabbed him in the neck," she clarifies.  
  
"The palladium thing?" Barton asks and gets a firm nod in affirmation.  
  
"What palladium thing?" Bruce raises his voice for the first time. "It powers the reactor, right? But... its discharges are highly toxic, there's no way... Oh my god," he just looks mortified.  
  
"Exactly. It's not like there was someone in that Afghan cave who would've told him about the consequences. It didn't even matter at the time. But then... You can imagine how it feels when the only thing keeping you alive is also killing you," she supplies.  
  
"But he's not dying now, right?" Bruce fiddles with his glasses and takes a bite of his food cautiously.  
  
"Nah, Stark assembled a particle accelerator in his basement and created a new element," Hawkeye grins. "Awesome, right?"  
  
"It never made it to the media," Bruce tries to argue.  
  
"Yeah, well, he keeps the most important things close to his chest," Natasha shrugs. "I take it none of you heard about Jarvis? He's some piece of technology."  
  
_"Thank you, agent Romanoff,"_ a British voice from the above sais, making them all to jump. _"Or should I call you Ms Rushman for the time being?"_  
  
"See? That's what happens when Stark teaches his AI how to be sassy and sarcastic," the spy just laughs.  
  
"Hang on a second," Hawkeye looks scared. "We're in the tower fully controlled by an AI? Holy fuck, I quit! Stark? You hear me?!"  
  
_"There's no need to worry, agent Barton. I can assure you that I have no intention of going all "Hal 9000" on you. It would be highly unprofessional and inadequate of me, or so Mr Stark has informed me. He went as far as to promise to never speak with me again if I were to do such a stupid thing,"_ the voice tells them, but there's humor hidden behind those words.  
  
"He showed you all those films, didn't he?" Bruce asks with a soft laugh.  
  
_"Of course Mr Stark did,"_ Jarvis answers proudly, and Steve realizes that this "AI" thing is proud of Stark, of their interaction. 

 _"He wanted me to know what I would be fighting against if someone realized how complex I was. Sir taught me to hide behind meaningless words, he taught me to keep the most important things close to chest, as you have noticed, agent Romanoff."_  
  
Steve sits there and it just dawns on him suddenly that he jumped at wrong conclusions too quickly. Stark is harsh and brutal, but it's all jarred edges and results of being let down. He's soft inside, and it's painful to even think about what could have happened to make him wear such perfect masks.  
  
_"Sir taught me that sometimes you need to run before you can walk,"_ Jarvis continues.  
  
Steve might actually agree with this one.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to visit my [tumblr](http://valerishka-s.tumblr.com/) and to leave some prompts!


End file.
